CAMP PENDLETON (CNS/CBS 8) - Two Camp Pendleton Marines were injured Sunday when their Humvee crashed into a big rig and overturned on southbound Interstate 5 near the Aliso Creek rest area.
The 45-year-old male big rig driver told California Highway Patrol officers he saw the Humvee approaching from behind shortly before 10 a.m., CHP Officer Jim Bettencourt said. The Humvee struck the back right corner of the big rig and spun out of control, first up the right shoulder embankment and then across all four lanes of traffic before hitting the center divider.
The driver and passenger in the Humvee, both men in their 20s, were injured. The passenger suffered major injuries and the CHP temporary closed the southbound freeway so a rescue helicopter could land to take him to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Bettencourt said.
The Humvee driver suffered moderate injuries and was taken to the same hospital in an ambulance. Bettencourt said alcohol and drugs were not suspected in the crash.
The driver of the 2015 Peterbilt big rig was not injured, the officer said.
One lane was closed for two hours for the cleanup and investigation, and shortly after 12:15 p.m. the CHP reopened all lanes of the southbound freeway.